South Korea launches homegrown Nuri rocket after delay

South Korea launched its homegrown space rocket Nuri on Thursday afternoon, a day after it was forced to postpone due to a technical glitch just hours before lift-off. The three-stage rocket, more than 47 metres long and weighing 200 tonnes, soared into the sky from the Naro Space Center in South Korea's southern coastal region. All eight satellites Nuri was carrying then successfully separated.

Wednesday's launch was called off after a communication error between the launch control computer and another computer managing the launch pad was detected. The satellite has a small synthetic aperture radar that can capture high-resolution images regardless of weather conditions. The three-stage Nuri rocket has been a decade in development at a cost of 1.5 billion USD.